VII
THE REAL LEOPOLD
Two hours later a horseman pushed his way between tumbled andtangled briers along the bottom of a deep ravine.
He was hatless, and his stained and ragged khaki betokened muchexposure to the elements and hard and continued usage. At hissaddle-bow a carbine swung in its boot, and upon either hip wasstrapped a long revolver. Ammunition in plenty filled the crossbelts that he had looped about his shoulders.
Grim and warlike as were his trappings, no less grim was the set ofhis strong jaw or the glint of his gray eyes, nor did the patch ofbrown stain that had soaked through the left shoulder of his jackettend to lessen the martial atmosphere which surrounded him.Fortunate it was for the brigands of the late Yellow Franz that noneof them chanced in the path of Barney Custer that day.
For nearly two hours the man had ridden downward out of the highhills in search of a dwelling at which he might ask the way to Tann;but as yet he had passed but a single house, and that a longuntenanted ruin. He was wondering what had become of all theinhabitants of Lutha when his horse came to a sudden halt before anobstacle which entirely blocked the narrow trail at the bottom ofthe ravine.
As the horseman's eyes fell upon the thing they went wide inastonishment, for it was no less than the charred remnants of theonce beautiful gray roadster that had brought him into thistwentieth century land of medieval adventure and intrigue. Barneysaw that the machine had been lifted from where it had fallen acrossthe horse of the Princess von der Tann, for the animal's decayingcarcass now lay entirely clear of it; but why this should have beendone, or by whom, the young man could not imagine.
A glance aloft showed him the road far above him, from which he, thehorse and the roadster had catapulted; and with the sight of itthere flashed to his mind the fair face of the young girl in whoseservice the thing had happened. Barney wondered if Joseph had beensuccessful in returning her to Tann, and he wondered, too, if shemourned for the man she had thought king--if she would be very angryshould she ever learn the truth.
Then there came to the American's mind the figure of the shopkeeperof Tafelberg, and the fellow's evident loyalty to the mad king hehad never seen. Here was one who might aid him, thought Barney. Hewould have the will, at least, and with the thought the young manturned his pony's head diagonally up the steep ravine side.
It was a tough and dangerous struggle to the road above, but at lastby dint of strenuous efforts on the part of the sturdy little beastthe two finally scrambled over the edge of the road and stood oncemore upon level footing.
After breathing his mount for a few minutes Barney swung himselfinto the saddle again and set off toward Tafelberg. He met no oneupon the road, nor within the outskirts of the village, and so hecame to the door of the shop he sought without attracting attention.
Swinging to the ground he tied the pony to one of the supportingcolumns of the porch-roof and a moment later had stepped within theshop.
From a back room the shopkeeper presently emerged, and when he sawwho it was that stood before him his eyes went wide inconsternation.
"In the name of all the saints, your majesty," cried the old fellow,"what has happened? How comes it that you are out of the hospital,and travel-stained as though from a long, hard ride? I cannotunderstand it, sire."
"Hospital?" queried the young man. "What do you mean, my goodfellow? I have been in no hospital."
"You were there only last evening when I inquired after you of thedoctor," insisted the shopkeeper, "nor did any there yet suspectyour true identity."
"Last evening I was hiding far up in the mountains from YellowFranz's band of cutthroats," replied Barney. "Tell me what manner ofriddle you are propounding."
Then a sudden light of understanding flashed through Barney's mind.
"Man!" he exclaimed. "Tell me--you have found the true king? He isat a hospital in Tafelberg?"
"Yes, your majesty, I have found the true king, and it is so that hewas at the Tafelberg sanatorium last evening. It was beside theremnants of your wrecked automobile that two of the men of Tafelbergfound you.
"One leg was pinioned beneath the machine which was on fire whenthey discovered you. They brought you to my shop, which is the firston the road into town, and not guessing your true identity they tookmy word for it that you were an old acquaintance of mine and withoutmore ado turned you over to my care."
Barney scratched his head in puzzled bewilderment. He began todoubt if he were in truth himself, or, after all, Leopold of Lutha.As no one but himself could, by the wildest stretch of imagination,have been in such a position, he was almost forced to the conclusionthat all that had passed since the instant that his car shot overthe edge of the road into the ravine had been but the hallucinationsof a fever-excited brain, and that for the past three weeks he hadbeen lying in a hospital cot instead of experiencing the strange andinexplicable adventures that he had believed to have befallen him.
But yet the more he thought of it the more ridiculous such aconclusion appeared, for it did not in the least explain the ponytethered without, which he plainly could see from where he stoodwithin the shop, nor did it satisfactorily account for the blotch ofblood upon his shoulder from a wound so fresh that the stain stillwas damp; nor for the sword which Joseph had buckled about his waistwithin Blentz's forbidding walls; nor for the arms and ammunition hehad taken from the dead brigands--all of which he had before him astangible evidence of the rationality of the past few weeks.
"My friend," said Barney at last, "I cannot wonder that you havemistaken me for the king, since all those I have met within Luthahave leaped to the same error, though not one among them made theslightest pretense of ever having seen his majesty. A ridiculousbeard started the trouble, and later a series of happenings, no oneof which was particularly remarkable in itself, aggravated it, untilbut a moment since I myself was almost upon the point of believingthat I am the king.
"But, my dear Herr Kramer, I am not the king; and when you haveaccompanied me to the hospital and seen that your patient still isthere, you may be willing to admit that there is some justificationfor doubt as to my royalty."
The old man shook his head.
"I am not so sure of that," he said, "for he who lies at thehospital, providing you are not he, or he you, maintains as sturdilyas do you that he is not Leopold. If one of you, whichever beking--providing that you are not one and the same, and that I be notthe only maniac in the sad muddle--if one of you would but trust myloyalty and love for the true king and admit your identity, then Imight be of some real service to that one of you who is reallyLeopold. Herr Gott! My words are as mixed as my poor brain."
"If you will listen to me, Herr Kramer," said Barney, "and believewhat I tell you, I shall be able to unscramble your ideas in so faras they pertain to me and my identity. As to the man you say wasfound beneath my car, and who now lies in the sanatorium ofTafelberg, I cannot say until I have seen and talked with him. Hemay be the king and he may not; but if he insists that he is not, Ishall be the last to wish a kingship upon him. I know from sadexperience the hardships and burdens that the thing entails."
Then Barney narrated carefully and in detail the principal events ofhis life, from his birth in Beatrice to his coming to Lutha uponpleasure. He showed Herr Kramer his watch with his monogram upon it,his seal ring, and inside the pocket of his coat the label of histailor, with his own name written beneath it and the date that thegarment had been ordered.
When he had completed his narrative the old man shook his head.
"I cannot understand it," he said; "and yet I am almost forced tobelieve that you are not the king."
"Direct me to the sanatorium," suggested Barney, "and if it bewithin the range of possibility I shall learn whether the man wholies there is Leopold or another, and if he be the king I shallserve him as loyally as you would have served me. Together we mayassist him to gain the safety of Tann and the protection of oldPrince Ludwig."
"If you are not the king," said Kramer suspiciou
sly, "why should yoube so interested in aiding Leopold? You may even be an enemy. Howcan I know?"
"You cannot know, my good friend," replied Barney. "But had I beenan enemy, how much more easily might I have encompassed my designs,whatever they might have been, had I encouraged you to believe thatI was king. The fact that I did not, must assure you that I have noulterior designs against Leopold."
This line of reasoning proved quite convincing to the oldshopkeeper, and at last he consented to lead Barney to thesanatorium. Together they traversed the quiet village streets to theoutskirts of the town, where in large, park-like grounds thewell-known sanatorium of Tafelberg is situated in quietsurroundings. It is an institution for the treatment of nervousdiseases to which patients are brought from all parts of Europe, andis doubtless Lutha's principal claim upon the attention of the outerworld.
As the two crossed the gardens which lay between the gate and themain entrance and mounted the broad steps leading to the veranda anold servant opened the door, and recognizing Herr Kramer, noddedpleasantly to him.
"Your patient seems much brighter this morning, Herr Kramer," hesaid, "and has been asking to be allowed to sit up."
"He is still here, then?" questioned the shopkeeper with a sigh thatmight have indicated either relief or resignation.
"Why, certainly. You did not expect that he had entirely recoveredovernight, did you?"
"No," replied Herr Kramer, "not exactly. In fact, I did not knowwhat I should expect."
As the two passed him on their way to the room in which the patientlay, the servant eyed Herr Kramer in surprise, as though wonderingwhat had occurred to his mentality since he had seen him theprevious day. He paid no attention to Barney other than to bow tohim as he passed, but there was another who did--an attendantstanding in the hallway through which the two men walked toward theprivate room where one of them expected to find the real mad king ofLutha.
He was a dark-visaged fellow, sallow and small-eyed; and as hisglance rested upon the features of the American a puzzled expressioncrossed his face. He let his gaze follow the two as they moved on upthe corridor until they turned in at the door of the room theysought, then he followed them, entering an apartment next to that inwhich Herr Kramer's patient lay.
As Barney and the shopkeeper entered the small, whitewashed room,the former saw upon the narrow iron cot the figure of a man of abouthis own height. The face that turned toward them as they entered wascovered by a full, reddish-brown beard, and the eyes that looked upat them in troubled surprise were gray. Beyond these Barney couldsee no likenesses to himself; yet they were sufficient, he realized,to have deceived any who might have compared one solely to theprinted description of the other.
At the doorway Kramer halted, motioning Barney within.
"It will be better if you talk with him alone," he said. "I am surethat before both of us he will admit nothing."
Barney nodded, and the shopkeeper of Tafelberg withdrew and closedthe door behind him. The American approached the bedside with acheery "Good morning."
The man returned the salutation with a slight inclination of hishead. There was a questioning look in his eyes; but dominating thatwas a pitiful, hunted expression that touched the American's heart.
The man's left hand lay upon the coverlet. Barney glanced at thethird finger. About it was a plain gold band. There was no royalring of the kings of Lutha in evidence, yet that was no indicationthat the man was not Leopold; for were he the king and desirous ofconcealing his identity, his first act would be to remove everysymbol of his kingship.
Barney took the hand in his.
"They tell me that you are well on the road to recovery," he said."I am very glad that it is so."
"Who are you?" asked the man.
"I am Bernard Custer, an American. You were found beneath my car atthe bottom of a ravine. I feel that I owe you full reparation forthe injuries you received, though it is beyond me how you happenedto be found under the machine. Unless I am truly mad, I was the onlyoccupant of the roadster when it plunged over the embankment."
"It is very simple," replied the man upon the cot. "I chanced to beat the bottom of the ravine at the time and the car fell upon me."
"What were you doing at the bottom of the ravine?" asked Barneyquite suddenly, after the manner of one who administers a thirddegree.
The man started and flushed with suspicion.
"That is my own affair," he said.
He tried to disengage his hand from Barney's, and as he did so theAmerican felt something within the fingers of the other. For aninstant his own fingers tightened upon those that lay within them,so that as the others were withdrawn his index finger pressed closeupon the thing that had aroused his curiosity.
It was a large setting turned inward upon the third finger of theleft hand. The gold band that Barney had seen was but the oppositeside of the same ring.
A quick look of comprehension came to Barney's eyes. The man uponthe cot evidently noted it and rightly interpreted its cause, for,having freed his hand, he now slipped it quickly beneath thecoverlet.
"I have passed through a series of rather remarkable adventuressince I came to Lutha," said Barney apparently quite irrelevantly,after the two had remained silent for a moment. "Shortly after mycar fell upon you I was mistaken for the fugitive King Leopold bythe young lady whose horse fell into the ravine with my car. She isa most loyal supporter of the king, being none other than thePrincess Emma von der Tann. From her I learned to espouse the causeof Leopold."
Step by step Barney took the man through the adventures that hadbefallen him during the past three weeks, closing with the story ofthe death of the boy, Rudolph.
"Above his dead body I swore to serve Leopold of Lutha as loyally asthe poor, mistaken child had served me, your majesty," and Barneylooked straight into the eyes of him who lay upon the little ironcot.
For a moment the man held his eyes upon those of the American, butfinally, under the latter's steady gaze, they dropped and wandered.
"Why do you address me as 'your majesty'?" he asked irritably.
"With my forefinger I felt the ruby and the four wings of thesetting of the royal ring of the kings of Lutha upon the thirdfinger of your left hand," replied Barney.
The king started up upon his elbow, his eyes wild with apprehension.
"It is not so," he cried. "It is a lie! I am not the king."
"Hush!" admonished Barney. "You have nothing to fear from me.There are good friends and loyal subjects in plenty to serve andprotect your majesty, and place you upon the throne that has beenstolen from you. I have sworn to serve you. The old shopkeeper, HerrKramer, who brought me here, is an honest, loyal old soul. He woulddie for you, your majesty. Trust us. Let us help you. Tomorrow,Kramer tells me, Peter of Blentz is to have himself crowned as kingin the cathedral at Lustadt.
"Will you sit supinely by and see another rob you of your kingdom,and then continue to rob and throttle your subjects as he has beendoing for the past ten years? No, you will not. Even if you do notwant the crown, you were born to the duties and obligations itentails, and for the sake of your people you must assume them now."
"How am I to know that you are not another of the creatures of thatfiend of Blentz?" cried the king. "How am I to know that you willnot drag me back to the terrors of that awful castle, and to thepoisonous potions of the new physician Peter has employed toassassinate me? I can trust none.
"Go away and leave me. I do not want to be king. I wish only to goaway as far from Lutha as I can get and pass the balance of my lifein peace and security. Peter may have the crown. He is welcome toit, for all of me. All I ask is my life and my liberty."
Barney saw that while the king was evidently of sound mind, his wasnot one of those iron characters and courageous hearts that wouldwillingly fight to the death for his own rights and the rights andhappiness of his people. Perhaps the long years of bitterdisappointment and misery, the tedious hours of imprisonment, andthe constant haunting fears for h
is life had reduced him to thispitiable condition.
Whatever the cause, Barney Custer was determined to overcome theman's aversion to assuming the duties which were rightly his, for inhis memory were the words of Emma von der Tann, in which she hadmade plain to him the fate that would doubtless befall her fatherand his house were Peter of Blentz to become king of Lutha. Then,too, there was the life of the little peasant boy. Was that to begiven up uselessly for a king with so mean a spirit that he wouldnot take a scepter when it was forced upon him?
And the people of Lutha? Were they to be further and continuallyrobbed and downtrodden beneath the heel of Peter's scoundrellyofficials because their true king chose to evade theresponsibilities that were his by birth?
For half an hour Barney pleaded and argued with the king, until heinfused in the weak character of the young man a part of his owntireless enthusiasm and courage. Leopold commenced to take heart andsee things in a brighter and more engaging light. Finally he becamequite excited about the prospects, and at last Barney obtained awilling promise from him that he would consent to being placed uponhis throne and would go to Lustadt at any time that Barney shouldcome for him with a force from the retainers of Prince Ludwig vonder Tann.
"Let us hope," cried the king, "that the luck of the reigning houseof Lutha has been at last restored. Not since my aunt, the PrincessVictoria, ran away with a foreigner has good fortune shone upon myhouse. It was when my father was still a young man--before he hadyet come to the throne--and though his reign was marked with greatpeace and prosperity for the people of Lutha, his own privatefortunes were most unhappy.
"My mother died at my birth, and the last days of my father's lifewere filled with suffering from the cancer that was slowly killinghim. Let us pray, Herr Custer, that you have brought new life to thefortunes of my house."
"Amen, your majesty," said Barney. "And now I'll be off forTann--there must not be a moment lost if we are to bring you toLustadt in time for the coronation. Herr Kramer will watch over you,but as none here guesses your true identity you are safer here thananywhere else in Lutha. Good-bye, your majesty. Be of good heart.We'll have you on the road to Lustadt and the throne tomorrowmorning."
After Barney Custer had closed the door of the king's chamber behindhim and hurried down the corridor, the door of the room next theking's opened quietly and a dark-visaged fellow, sallow andsmall-eyed, emerged. Upon his lips was a smile of cunningsatisfaction, as he hastened to the office of the medical directorand obtained a leave of absence for twenty-four hours.